CS Long Beach Loses Opener to Purdue

Putting pressure on Cal State Long Beach from the start, Purdue remained in control throughout a 100-53 nonconference basketball victory here Tuesday night.

Long Beach, playing in its season opener, trailed, 21-7, with 10:45 remaining in the first half and was behind, 53-20, at halftime.

Purdue’s press helped force Long Beach’s 22 turnovers in the game, and the Boilermakers’ domination inside forced the 49ers to shoot from the perimeter. Long Beach made only 33% of its shots from the floor, contrasted with Purdue’s 55%.

“They were never able to get back into the game, I think, because of our defense,” Purdue Coach Gene Keady said. “We felt good about that. We wanted to keep them from scoring, so they couldn’t press us. We’ve got a long way to go to beat a team like Texas Tech on the road.”

Purdue (1-1) was led by 18 points from Jimmy Oliver and 17 from Melvin McCants.

Darrell Faulkner was the only 49er in double figures with 10 points.

Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington tried to take the loss in stride.

“I wasn’t really pleased or proud of the way we performed. We’re a better team than that, you’ll see,” Harrington said. “We’ve got a lot of new players and it will take some time for them to mature. Purdue shot well and dominated the boards. It’s a typical Big Ten team.

“Even though we got beat very soundly, I think the game will help us--something we can point to when we go back to practice tomorrow,” Harrington said.

Purdue outrebounded Long Beach, 48-33. Steve Scheffler of the Boilermakers had 11 rebounds, including 9 before halftime.